DENVER – The U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace for the District of Colorado declares that Bruce Holder, age 57, of Grand Junction, was sentenced to life in federal jail. Holder was convicted of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and counterfeit substances, distribution of fentanyl leading to loss of life, distribution of fentanyl, and distribution of a counterfeit substance, after an 11 day trial in April 2021.
Information introduced at trial established that Holder labored along with a number of co-conspirators, together with his spouse, youngsters, and different members of his household, to distribute tablets that seemed to be professional 30mg Oxycodone tablets, however in reality had been counterfeit and spiked with fentanyl. Between 2017 and 2018, Holder imported tens of 1000’s of those tablets from Mexico into Western Colorado the place he and his co-conspirators distributed them for substantial revenue.
In 2017, a younger man died after utilizing one of many tablets. Proof introduced at trial established that this man wouldn’t have died however for the fentanyl current within the counterfeit tablets distributed by Holder and his co-conspirators. Regardless of understanding of this loss of life, and listening to of different issues, Holder and his co-conspirators continued to import and distribute these counterfeit tablets. This continued even after Holder’s arrest in August 2018. Proof at trial additionally confirmed that, following his arrest, Holder mentioned with co-conspirators plans to destroy proof and presumably homicide a cooperating witness.
United States District Court docket Choose Christine M. Arguello presided over the trial and sentenced the defendant on January 11, 2023.
“It has taken greater than 5 years to get justice for the victims’ households. We hope this brings them some quantity of peace,” stated United States Legal professional Cole Finegan. “We couldn’t have gotten so far with out the laborious work and dedication from our regulation enforcement companions on the DEA, the FBI, Homeland Safety, the Grand Junction Police Division, and the Mesa County Sheriff’s Workplace. We hope this sentence sends a powerful message to fentanyl sellers that we are going to maintain you accountable to the fullest extent of the regulation in case your illicit medication kill folks in our state.”
“At first, I wish to thank the investigators and prosecutors who tirelessly labored on this case for years with tenacity and compassion. It was their relentless willpower that made it doable for us to see justice for these households,” stated DEA Rocky Mountain Particular Agent in Cost Brian Besser. “There is no such thing as a final result that may deliver again family members; however we do hope at the moment is a small step ahead for the households, and a stark reminder that DEA’s work to guard our communities from harmful and grasping fentanyl distributors continues this very hour and we won’t cease.”
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Rocky Mountain Division carried out the investigation, with the help of the FBI, ATF, HSI, USMS, Western Colorado Drug Activity Drive, Two Rivers Drug Enforcement Crew (“TRIDENT”), Carbondale Police Division, Fruita Police Division, Grand Junction Police Division, and the Mesa County Sheriff’s Workplace. Particular Assistant United States Legal professional Jaime Pena and former assistant United States Legal professional Jeremy Chaffin and dealt with the prosecution of the case, with the help of Sufferer/Witness Coordinator Donna Summers.
This prosecution is a part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Activity Drive (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, cash launderers, gangs, and transnational felony organizations that threaten the USA through the use of a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency strategy that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and native regulation enforcement companies towards felony networks.
CASE NUMBER: 18-cr-00381-CMA-GPG
For extra details about the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace for the District of Colorado, go to: https://www.justice.gov/usao-co/pr
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